In the 2000 and 2010 U.S. Census, the term "Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander" refers to people having origins in any of the original peoples of Hawaii, Guam, Tonga, Samoa, Fiji, the Marshalls or other Pacific Islands.

In the 2010 census 1,225,195 Americans claimed "'Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander'" as their race alone or in combination.

The largest Micronesian American subgroups are Marshallese and Chamoru Americans. Other significant groups include Yapese, Pohnpeian, Kosraean, Chuuk,and Palauan.[citation needed]

Chamorro Americans, or the Chamoru, are the indigenous inhabitants of the Marianas, which are politically divided between Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. The Chamoru have been subject to the jurisdiction of the United States since the U.S. captured Guam during the Spanish–American War in 1898. The rest of the archipelago did not become affiliated with the U.S. until it invaded in 1944. In the 2010 census, 147,798 identified as "Guamanian or Chamorro". Because of economic conditions in the Marianas, particularly from the 1990s onward, many emigrated to the States in search of work and better opportunities. There are now more Chamorros in the 50 states than there are in the Marianas.[citation needed]

According to the 2010 census, the largest Chamoru populations were located in California, Washington and Texas, but their combined number from these three states totaled less than half the number living throughout the U.S. It also revealed that the Chamoru people are the most geographically dispersed Oceanic ethnicity in the country.[14]

Because of the Marshall Islands entering the Compact of Free Association in 1986, Marshallese have been allowed to migrate and work in the United States. There are many reasons why Marshallese came to the United States. Some Marshallese came for educational opportunities, particularly for their children. Others sought work or better health care than what’s available in the islands. Massive layoffs by the Marshallese government in 2000 led to a second big wave of immigration.

Arkansas has the largest Mashallese population with over 6,000 residents. Many live in Springdale, and the Marshallese comprise over 5% of the city's population. Other significant Marshallese populations include Spokane and Costa Mesa.

A Samoan American is an American who is of ethnic Samoan descent either from the independent nation Samoa or the American territory of American Samoa. Samoan American is a subcategory of Polynesian American. About 65,000 people live on American Samoa, while the US census in 2000 and 2008 has found 4 times the number of Samoan Americans live in the mainland USA.

Since the end of World War II, persons born in American Samoa are United States nationals, but not United States citizens. (This is the only circumstance under which an individual would be one and not the other.) For this reason, Samoans can move to Hawaii or the mainland United States and obtain citizenship comparatively easily. Like Hawaiian Americans, the Samoans arrived in the mainland in the 20th century as agricultural laborers and factory workers.

A Tongan American is an American who is of ethnic Tongan descent. Utah has the largest Tongan American population and Hawaii has the second largest. Many of the first Tongan Americans came to the United States in connection to the LDS Church.

Based on 2003 recruiting data, Pacific Islander Americans were 249% over-represented in the military.[18]

American Samoans are distinguished among the wider Pacific Islander group for enthusiasm for enlistment. In 2007, a Chicago Tribune reporter covering the island's military service noted, "American Samoa is one of the few places in the nation where military recruiters not only meet their enlistment quotas but soundly exceed them."[19] As of 23 March 2009[update] there have been 10 American Samoans who have died in Iraq, and 2 who have died in Afghanistan.[20]

Pacific Islander Americans are also well represented in the Navy SEALS, making up .6% of the enlisted and .1% of the officers.[21]

Pacific Islander Americans have media portrayal mostly as athletes, but are also portrayed as regular people. Dwayne Johnson, also known as "The Rock", with a Samoan mother and a Black Canadianfather, has been the most notable Pacific Islander American professional wrestler, branching out into movies like the The Scorpion King. Other Pacific Islander American professional wrestlers include Samoa Joe; Solofa Fatu, best known as "Rikishi"; and the late Rodney Anoa'i, better known as "Yokozuna". The Anoa'i family has a legacy dating back to Johnson's grandfather Peter Maivia.

Bloody Mary, a chatacter in the South Pacific musical and movie, is a souvenir trader to US sailors stationed in the Pacific Theater of World War II. Though originally cast as Juanita Hall, an African American, she is often also cast as an Asian or Pacific Islander American in newer local productions.

As a result of the rise of Samoan communities in highly concentrated hip hop areas such as Los Angeles and Oakland, California, American Samoans, like African Americans, have built up a reputation as highly skilled dancers and athletes.[citation needed] While women were mostly restrained from their expression of hip hop dance, many Samoan men became professional dancers and entered the American music industry. Suga Pop, and Boo-Yaa T.R.I.B.E. are examples of this.[24] The involvement of Samoans in street dance and hip hop music in America has impacted the Samoan cultural production in other places where Samoans have settled. A transmission of culture between the American Samoan community and its Pacific origin (i.e. New Zealand, Hawaii) took place. This resulted in a mimicking of not only music and dance styles but of the fashion of American hip hop as well. Samoan dance crews copied the popping and locking dance forms while wearing Adidas track suits- a style very commonly associated with Queens based hip hop group Run DMC. As a result of the American Samoan community's rising recognition, performers such as Snoop Dogg and Lord Tariq have collaborated with various American-based Samoan and Pacific artists.[24]